Like Fujimi Orchestra, Yatteraneeze, and Ouchou Haru, this is also a story that comprises several books. For now, I have only read the current installment, and I believe that there are 5 volumes available. The premise is quite simple; a simple university student applies for a part-time job during spring break, and needs to pet sit for three extraordinary cats. The youngest of the bunch, falls in love at first sight for him. What makes this book stands out, is the utter cuteness of the wilfulness displayed by the cats. If you owned cats before, then some scenes are so easy to recognise ^^. Usually, I refer the protagonists as seme-uke, me being a lazy ass, but in this story, the names are “hints”, so an exception was made this time.

Summary
Hoshikawa Mitsuo is reminiscing how he got into this trouble. It all started when he applied for a pet sitter job. If he had anything that can be called a talent, then it’s his gift to be well liked by animals. His mother is an animal illustrator, and his father is a well-known photographer of wild animals, so in his house, there has always been a few pets around. Currently, they own an obedient golden retriever, and two cats. Not long after he sent his cv, a telephone call invites him for an interview. The condition is that he must be prepared to stay over for 2 weeks pronto if hired. After saying his goodbyes to his mother and her assistant he leaves, and then arrives to a huge mansion. He’s asked by the lady of the house, Mrs. Nabeshima, to take a shower to wash off the scent of his own pets, and is led to the animals by the butler. There, he is surprised by 3 huge feline creatures! They must be panthers right? No cat can be so humongous! What’s even worse, the butler disappeared, and the one closest is slowly nearing him! Fortunately, Mrs. Nabeshima reappears, who’s delighted that the cats like Mitsuo, and proceeds to introduce them: Alpha, Zeta with the white spot, and the smallest who hasn’t attained adulthood just yet, Theta (pronounced Shita). Before Mitsuo could revoke on the job application, she hastily leaves for her trip, and Alpha follows to send her off. With Theta hanging all over him, Mitsuo is scared shitless, and not long after, the grandson enters the room. He’s called Atsuo, and with the help of some hypnotism, he manages to convince Mitsuo that they really are cats, though just a tiny bit bigger… So like this, Mitsuo’s pet sitting holiday starts. His job consists mainly of loving the cats, in particular young Theta. The other two have already grown up, and won’t return that easily to their wild nature, so Mitsuo is there to prevent Theta becoming wild. Apparently, their race is extremely intelligent, and are able to understand human language. Theta being Theta, such a spoilt, possessive wilful cat, is always following Mitsuo around (when not sleeping), so it’s no wonder that he becomes Mitsuo’s favourite in no time. Atsuo, aside there are other grandsons, one of them is his cousin, Zem. Like Atsuo, he’s very handsome, but while Atsuo is more of the refined type, Zem oozes sexiness. They haven’t exchanged their names yet, or Zem is already giving Mitsuo a french kiss! Afterwards he continues to harass Mitsuo, much to both Mitsuo’s and Theta’s chagrin. A week passes, Mitsuo really appreciates the intelligent conversations he has with Zem, so eventhough he dislikes the sexual tinted teasings, his former prejudice against gays slowly melts away a bit, unbeknownst to him. However, two concerns have arisen in mean time, both concerning Theta. The first is about the catfights he’s provoking with Zeta, somehow those fierce battles don’t look like playing anymore. Mitsuo already noticed how jealous Theta can be when around Zem, but why Zeta? He doesn’t favor Zeta nor Alpha, so why only picking fights with Zeta? The second issue is about the lovecalls that Theta is making. Sure, it’s the mating season, but what’s causing Mitsuo a headache, is that Theta is making lovecalls to HIM! Zem and Atsuo weren’t much of a help, Zem even made the vulgar joke that Theta might be in love with him! It’s also during that time that Theta started to lick Mitsuo’s body when asleep. Mitsuo really is freaked out that his body is reacting to a CAT, and after a few nights, he finally has it and throws the cat out of his room. Next morning, Mitsuo tries to find him to reconcile. Instead, he finds a barefoot gorgeous guy in the backyard. At first, he thinks that he might be retarded, as he’s only mewing in answer to any question. He decides he must have a weird sense of humor, like Zem and plays along. The guy turns out to be Shirou, the third and last grandson of the mansion. Since Theta is nowhere to be found, he spends the day with that excentric guy, teaching Shirou how to have a better pronunciation of words. After reconciling with Theta, taking a bath together, and having a weird H dream (Zem seems to be “teaching” Shirou, using Mitsuo’s body) , he sits with Shirou on a sofa. In the afternoon light, Shirou is reading a book, and Mitsuo observes him. If he has to compare the three grandsons, then Shirou is definitely most to his taste, from a nonsexual, aesthetical point of view of course. Shirou notices the stares, and excitedly inquires whether Mitsuo has fallen in love with him. Mitsuo, who’s mesmerised by Shirou’s looks and hasn’t been listening to the question, just dumbly nods. Shirou jumps on Mitsuo, and it’s then that Mitsuo experienced the biggest humiliation in his life. When he he’s back to consciousness, he learns that Theta is Shirou, and that the other Cats are of course Atsuo and Zem. More secrets are revealed. Apparently, they needed to find a partner fast for Theta, with the deadline aproaching Theta would otherwise remain a Cat whole his life. Unfortunately, all the female solicitors weren’t up to his taste, and like this, Mitsuo was picked. Atsuo comforts him that even though they aren’t thrilled that a pure blood like Theta has picked a male as a partner, it’s definitely better than him remaining a Cat whole his life, so Mitsuo shouldn’t be afraid to be discriminated by his race… but that’s Mitsuo’s least of his worries! When he learns that 3 days have passed and that his contract is over, Mitsuo immediately leaves, which Atsuo reluctantly allows. However, Shirou discovers this very quickly, and runs after him, having no clue why his dear Mitsuo would abandon him. Back home, Mitsuo suddenly realises that it’s easy for Shirou to find his whereabouts, and decides to move temporarily. Just in time, he receives a call from Atsuo, who tells that Shirou has been missing from the day that Mitsuo left, that Mitsuo and the rest of his household are in danger. It’d be only a matter of time before Shirou’s, or more accurately, Theta’s instincts find him. There is no telling what horrible events await them then… So like this, and a bit of hypnotism, Mitsuo is convinced to stay in Zem’s apartment. There, he overhears a conspiracy of destroying Theta’s life! Now Mitsuo doesn’t give a damn about that rapist Shirou, but Theta is a different story. So cute, graceful and intelligent, he can’t have him meet such a disastrous end! Somehow he manages to lock Atsuo and Zem, and after getting his information, he returns home, where Theta is reported to be last seen. In the park close by, he finds the neglected fevered Cat. When Theta desires for a french kiss, he is refused by Mitsuo who retorts that there is no way he would have such a kiss with a cat. This stirs up Shirou’s desire to turn human, but then Atsuo and Zem arrive on the scene. Mitsuo yells that he won’t let them hurt Theta, and that he will take care of Theta from now one. The two look at each other, and clap each others’ hands. Sigma’s plan succeeded. Dumbstruck Mitsuo realises he has been duped, but has no time to pounder, as Shirou is in a bad shape. While attending him, Mitsuo is torn between hating his rapist, but adoring Theta the cat. So after some reflection, he decides that it’s only due to the mating season that he experienced that horror, and that he’s unable to give up on the black Cat, afterall, he loves Theta.

A cat’s transformation
Without counting the tail, Theta measures around 150cm, yet they really are no panthers or anything. The shape of their heads are like cats, so Atsuo’s hypnotism wasn’t a matter of lying, more like taking away Mitsuo’s fear. Their race needs to find their first love before they reach adulthood, otherwise they remain cats for the rest of their lives. They need that person to stir their desire to become human. That first love is called “Cat crown”, she/he is the first and official wife, since cats aren’t monogamous. I don’t know whether Atsuo was telling the truth, but the conspiracy he was claiming with Zem, consisted of keeping the Cat crown deliberately away from Theta, and if he hasn’t found it back before the deadline, Theta will remain a Cat whole his life. His self-esteem wouldn’t be able to take this, he’d turn into the laughing-stock of their race, and in the end, he’ll die. Somehow, they’re able to talk once they have turned human once.

Seme
Well, we only know more about his feline counterpart, so not much is known about the human version, Nabeshima Shirou. He can be said to be a puppylike cat, but unfortunately, he’s egocentric, wilful and loves to act spoilt. Since he’s still a kid, his innocent love for Mitsuo is unconditional. In the beginning, his pronunciation was laughable, but with Mitsuo’s help, it becomes better. He still talks in a childlike way though, referring himself by “Shirou” instead of “I”. This doesn’t mean that he’s stupid nor that he’s not conscious of his own abilities. He’s able to read difficult kanji and knows his good looks and intelligence. He loves to be praised by Mitsuo, and isn’t shy of asking for some petting or some praising words. In short, he’s a cute guy, who just jumped into the human world, and uses his cat-knowledge to cope with the new environment.

Uke
He’s a very regular guy,except for his gift with animals. He doesn’t like going out that much, and if possible, he’d like to have a peaceful life. He prefers animals over humans, so it’s no wonder that he’s so fond of Theta. About his nerves, well, ofcourse it’s understandable why he freaks out all the time, who wouldn’t? But because of his harsh circumstances, he gives off the feelings of being weaknerved all the time. Even though he’s really a victim of circumstances, he often swallows himself in self-pity, but is still able to comfort himself by all kinds of excuses. He’s also rather uptight, and he’d like to avoid anything that’s unusual or taboo.

Dramacd (listened before reading)
The dramacd is seriously a shortened version of the novel. The cuteness of the Cats aren’t properly conveyed! I understand why they cut out the pets and the mother’s assistant out of the cd, I wonder whether the assistant will play a bigger role in the sequels, or just was created for the sake of having a man in the house when Mitsuo left. They added the scene where Alpha and Zeta are seeking advice from Sigma, and there was an extra track where all of them, including Sigma, are admiring the flowers. About the seiyuu, well, I at first misread Toriumi Katsumi for Toriumi Kousuke, so I thought Mitsuo was Itou Kentarou, and that the cat would be ToriKou. It was the first time for me to hear the other Toriumi act, me being not a fan of the Takumi-series, I’m not sure whether I like him. While I thought drama-uke was weaknerved, I was surprised how much more composed novel-uke was. About drama-seme, well, you can’t complain about mewing seiyuu right, and Shirou sounded cute too. A special mention: Okiayu Ryoutarou as Zem! I never thought he could sound so sexy! Such a pleasant surprise :)

Rating: 87/100

If it’s going to be anything like Fujimi or Yatteraneeze, then the following volumes will be dedicated to the growing feelings of Mitsuo towards Shirou, overcoming the taboo. I’m not sure whether I’ll enjoy the sequels as much as I enjoyed the first volume. The freshness of the cute Cats will surely have worn out by then, but I’m also hopeful as the story can go to so many ways. Meeting other Catmembers, will father be able to point out Shirou’s wildness? Will they go to university together? I also wonder how many of their race exist if all of them are named after greek letters. Akizuki Koo really is my favourite author, while the relationships never stay platonic, at least the focus isn’t on the sex.
Anyway, this summary really doesn’t do the book justice, the book is worth it for all these little quirks of the Cats and their individual personalities, the corners of my mouth went up more than a few times!